OUTPLAN-OUTPLAY-OUTLAST: a Sleepingbooty TR! New Princess trip update 4/2

[eandesmom]

I'm only 2.5 months late but am fully caught up!

PATHETIC!

Ok,...where to start.

I am SO jealous of the crowd levels at WWOHP, you have no idea. 10 min for FJ? 20 for Ollivanders? I am glad you all liked it. I think someone described as Soarin'+Spiderman with a little HM thrown in. I'm not sure that's exactly the right mix but it does get at it a little.

I agree that butterbeer is sweet. We had one frozen to share between 3 of us and didn't finish it and then later, a regular one, for 2 to share, same thing. We all preferred the frozen by quite a bit but it's like cheesecake or lobster, a little goes a long way.

That is horrible about the verbal abuse but smart you didn't get involved right there.

Also jealous you got to see the Tri-Wizard show. We were able to see the girls and boys for photo op but not any actual show. very cool!

I am CRACKING up about Jurassic Park. We did the same thing to Jeff's folks. Joke was on all of us though as we all got completely drenched and then were going straight to lunch so froze through lunch in the AC. It was pretty darn funny though a lost hat will lose some of that humor for sure.

I hear you on the lines at Pteradon. We did that ride in 04. The boys wanted to go on it this year and there was NO way I was waiting in that line again, which with the crowd levels while we were there would have been longer than 20 min. Isn't Spiderman great?

I am extremely impressed you made it to MK after dinner after a full day at IOA. Very impressive.

Onto the girls trip. What a stressful start! Between barely making the plane, it running out of coffee (how does THAT happen) and then the check in fiascos....I'd have been ready for a cocktail with my lunch! Seriously, after our online check in experience, and yours on this one, I really don't see the benefit.

EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW on the drunk at DTD.

 

[Stasieki]

I may have met some of your crew the night of the Princess Marathon. Silly question but was your group wearing tiaras. Do you have a picture of the day of the marathon (better yet the night of)? We met 3 nice girls from St. Louis on the monorail to MK that resemble the girls in you picture. They were having fun with my 5 year old Princess.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Episode 10: Epcot, Finally!

We got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to Epcot eventually. Since we didn’t get there until about 1:30, we were REALLY ready for lunch. First order of business was to grab fastpasses for Soarin,’ so we had lunch at Sunshine Seasons while we were there. Of course a visit to The Land is not complete without a tour of the greenhouses, so after we finished lunch we hopped on Living with the Land. I really enjoy that ride, even without the live narration.

From there, we headed over to Innoventions. Scott and my Dad wanted to try the Segway Experience. They’d tried to do it last visit and the line had been too long. This time they decided to wait. Scott and I had a 3-hour Segway Tour gift certificate that he had gotten me for our anniversary that we were planning on using sometime in October when we got back, so I figured I could wait until then. Nana and I took the girls over to that Velcro thing and made some frogs, then got in line for the Piggy Bank thing. I ended up getting out of line and letting my mom do the game with them so I could go back and forth between them and the guys to take pictures.

The guys enjoyed trying out the Segways, even though you only get about 3 minutes on it. They said it was different than they had imagined. Side note: we did get to do our Segway tour through Forest Park on a beautiful weekend in October. It was SO much fun. I highly recommend trying to do a Segway tour if you are ever visiting a city that has them. My mom just bought my dad a gift cert. for a tour for Valentines Day.

We rode Spaceship Earth next. This was a first for my parents. When they came with us in 2007, it was down for rehab. I LOVE LOVE this ride. I think because I have such a strong memory of it from my trip in 1986 with my grandparents, it has a nostalgic pull for me. I love the smell of the fake fire when Rome is burning. I even like the new ending. A lot.

After leaving Innoventions, we stopped for a drink at Club Cool and then headed to the left side of the park where we found that Test Track was only a 20 minute wait, so we went ahead and got in the standby line. This is one ride I really don’t mind waiting for, as there is so much to look at in the queue. We had a good ride – I think this was the first time Jenna didn’t get scared on the fast part at the end.

Mission Space was next – the green, less intense version if you please. I keep planning to try orange one of these days, but the wait was 20 or 30 minutes compared to a walk-on for green. So this would not be one of those days. We walked up to the castmember who was taking the cards and she directed us into a pod. We stood on our numbers and looked up expectantly to the video screen and waited for instructions. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually, we’d waited so long that people started sitting down on the floor. We all started talking and joking about being deserted in here and how we were going to survive. My mom, a big Survivor fan, suggested that we needed to elect a leader and start building a shelter. Someone else said we needed to inventory what food people had on them so we could ration it out. We were in there so long that people were starting to get slap-happy. Someone poked their head out the exit door, but couldn’t see any castmembers at all. Eventually we realized that we must have been forgotten. If their had been some kind of technical problem, surely their would have been an announcement of a CM would have come in to explain. Finally, one of the guys pried the elevator style doors that lead into the pod open. The stunned castmembers in the vestibule area turned around gaping at us. Everyone started talking at once, telling them that we’d been in there for an hour (it had probably been 15 or 20 minutes) and no one had come to get us. The CMs were bewildered – they led us into another room to wait for the next boarding. Apparently, they had shut us in and then closed off that section of the ride, forgetting we were in there! This was the weirdest thing I’ve ever had happen at WDW. I thought it was pretty funny, but my parents were a bit annoyed.

Our dinner ressie was at Le Cellier at 6:00. This one was for my dad, who is a huge carnivore. I like steak too, but if it were just us, we’d have gone somewhere new. They’d never been to Le Cellier, so I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was still a 1 credit TS while we were there.

We were about 10 minutes late, but she said it was okay – they don’t clear your name out of the system until you are 15 minutes late. This was the first I’d ever heard of that. We’ve been more than an hour late before at more than one Disney restaurant and never had an issue getting seated. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated, which was fine.

I ordered some cheese soup to share with everyone. For entrees, Scott had the mushroom filet, which he said was the “best steak he’d ever had.” I got the Kansas City Strip with the coffee rub, my dad got the New York Strip and my mom got the chicken dish with the waffle thing. Jenna had a chicken breast and Lucy ordered a hot dog. Unfortunately, they didn’t bring her mustard until about halfway through the meal. My bumbleberry cobbler was very good, but it could have used more ice cream.

After dinner, we waddled back to Future World to use our fastpasses, then did a little shopping. I was looking for a sweatshirt, but I really couldn’t find anything I loved (or wanted to part with $50 for). Eventually I gave up and we headed back to the World Showcase Lagoon to watch Illuminations. With just a few minutes before showtime, we found some decent spots near the rail in between the bridge and Mexico.

Illuminations is always a fantastic show and in my opinion, totally worth staying for despite having to exit in the midst of all those crowds. We were home by 10 – plenty of time for some late night hot-tubbing!

 

[All7OfUs]

That is so very odd, and yet so very hilarious about getting "forgotten". So weird! Maybe they could have softened the wait with a FiP?

Well, now that Le Cel is a 2 credit place, I proabably will never make it there. Unless it's for lunch; it's still 1 for lunch, right?

 

[klacey1]

OMG! I can't believe you guys were forgotten on MS! How crazy! I'm in your parents' camp-- I would have been PISSED! Way to go you for just going with the flow.
Aww, SE has that same nostalgic pull for me, too-- it's the one ride I remember from my first trip. Such a great ride!

 

[glennbo123]

Oh yeah, you totally should have wrangled a fastpass out of that Mission Space ordeal.

Nice frog.

 

[PirateKate]

That's so weird, deserted in Mission Space. I think it would have been annoying, but at the same time, it would have just been so odd that it would be kind of interesting.

Le Cellier sounds like a great choice. It's too bad it's 2 credits for dinner now, but on the other hand, it's probably much easier to get ADRs there.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I'm only 2.5 months late but am fully caught up!

PATHETIC!

Not at all!! I can never keep up myself, so don't worry about it!

I am SO jealous of the crowd levels at WWOHP, you have no idea. 10 min for FJ? 20 for Ollivanders? I am glad you all liked it. I think someone described as Soarin'+Spiderman with a little HM thrown in. I'm not sure that's exactly the right mix but it does get at it a little.

What's really funny, is that I got to my WWOHP in my report before you got to it in yours! There really is no way to describe that ride. Can't wait to read about your day there.

I agree that butterbeer is sweet. We had one frozen to share between 3 of us and didn't finish it and then later, a regular one, for 2 to share, same thing. We all preferred the frozen by quite a bit but it's like cheesecake or lobster, a little goes a long way.

I think I'd have enjoyed it more had it been an actual beer, butterscotch flavored!

Also jealous you got to see the Tri-Wizard show. We were able to see the girls and boys for photo op but not any actual show. very cool!

I was so impressed with it. I really did not expect the show quality to be that good, but it definitely was. Wish you could have seen it.

I am CRACKING up about Jurassic Park. We did the same thing to Jeff's folks. Joke was on all of us though as we all got completely drenched and then were going straight to lunch so froze through lunch in the AC. It was pretty darn funny though a lost hat will lose some of that humor for sure.

It was pretty funny. And we NEVER would have gotten the girls on it, had they known what they were in for. Not knowing, they actually liked it.

I hear you on the lines at Pteradon. We did that ride in 04. The boys wanted to go on it this year and there was NO way I was waiting in that line again, which with the crowd levels while we were there would have been longer than 20 min. Isn't Spiderman great?

Spiderman WAS very cool. I wished we'd have gotten Jenna on it, but she "didn't feel like it." (Code for chicken but embarrassed to admit it)

Onto the girls trip. What a stressful start! Between barely making the plane, it running out of coffee (how does THAT happen) and then the check in fiascos....I'd have been ready for a cocktail with my lunch! Seriously, after our online check in experience, and yours on this one, I really don't see the benefit.

Yep, the two times I've done online check in, it was not all that helpful. Although, we would have waited in a longer line - but of course there were many more CMs helping the non-online check-in folks. It was probably a wash, especially considering they didn't have our folder ready anyway.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I may have met some of your crew the night of the Princess Marathon. Silly question but was your group wearing tiaras. Do you have a picture of the day of the marathon (better yet the night of)? We met 3 nice girls from St. Louis on the monorail to MK that resemble the girls in you picture. They were having fun with my 5 year old Princess.

Hey there! You know, I don't know about the tiaras. Our three girls that ran may have worn them to MK. I know they wore them for sure the day of the race. Do you mean the night before? The next update I post will be of our MK day, the day before the race, so maybe you'll recognize the pictures.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

That is so very odd, and yet so very hilarious about getting "forgotten". So weird! Maybe they could have softened the wait with a FiP?

Well, now that Le Cel is a 2 credit place, I proabably will never make it there. Unless it's for lunch; it's still 1 for lunch, right?

It was way weird. We kept waiting for Lieutenant Dan to come on - he never did!

Yep, still 1 for lunch. I could eat a steak for lunch to save a credit. Fo sho

OMG! I can't believe you guys were forgotten on MS! How crazy! I'm in your parents' camp-- I would have been PISSED! Way to go you for just going with the flow.
Aww, SE has that same nostalgic pull for me, too-- it's the one ride I remember from my first trip. Such a great ride!

I thought it was kinda funny, but the 'rents were not amused.

I have a few different nostalgic rides from my first trip: Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy, the Mexico ride, Carousel of Progress, the Peoplemover...

Oh yeah, you totally should have wrangled a fastpass out of that Mission Space ordeal.



Nice frog.

I know. I don't know why we didn't.

Thanks

That's so weird, deserted in Mission Space. I think it would have been annoying, but at the same time, it would have just been so odd that it would be kind of interesting.

Le Cellier sounds like a great choice. It's too bad it's 2 credits for dinner now, but on the other hand, it's probably much easier to get ADRs there.

I was bored today waiting in the vet's office, so I was playing around on my phone. I have the webpage to make online dining ressies saved so I just for the heck of it I plugged in today's date and four people for dinner. I could have gotten in at Le Cellier at 7:30! And this is spring break!

 

[KatMark]

Rebecca, great Epcot update. I LOVE those tie-dyed shirts you are all wearing (I wish I had talent to do something like that for Mark and I for our September trip).

I can't get over your wait at Mission (I don't do green or orange...or I WOULD BE GREEN like the first and only time I rode it).

I had not heard that about erasing you out of the system if you are 15 minutes late.

 

[eandesmom]

That is so wierd about being forgotten but it sounds like you all had quite a bit of fun while abandoned. Makes for a good story anyway. I've never been to LeC and with it being 2 credits, if I'm on the dining plan, unlikely in the future but you never know.

Did you guys just wear the matching shirts for the photo op? I got confused for a minute thinking it was 2 different days worth of pictures.

Fun day and what wonderfully short waits!

What's really funny, is that I got to my WWOHP in my report before you got to it in yours! There really is no way to describe that ride. Can't wait to read about your day there.

I know, it's pathetic! I'm still a couple of days away from it too!

I think I'd have enjoyed it more had it been an actual beer, butterscotch flavored!

I can tell you that the Hogs Head red is quite tasty!!!!

I was so impressed with it. I really did not expect the show quality to be that good, but it definitely was. Wish you could have seen it.

Me too. I also wish they'd have wanted to to Ollivanders, I still find it odd they had zero interest in it.

It was pretty funny. And we NEVER would have gotten the girls on it, had they known what they were in for. Not knowing, they actually liked it.

Spiderman WAS very cool. I wished we'd have gotten Jenna on it, but she "didn't feel like it." (Code for chicken but embarrassed to admit it)

Yep, the two times I've done online check in, it was not all that helpful. Although, we would have waited in a longer line - but of course there were many more CMs helping the non-online check-in folks. It was probably a wash, especially considering they didn't have our folder ready anyway.

Sometimes it's best to leave certain things out. Occasionally it's been deliberate on our end but ususally I just don't think to tell them certain things, either assuming they know or not reazling they'd freak.

I only have 2 check in's to compare but the non online was SO much better it's not even funny.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Rebecca, great Epcot update. I LOVE those tie-dyed shirts you are all wearing (I wish I had talent to do something like that for Mark and I for our September trip).

I can't get over your wait at Mission (I don't do green or orange...or I WOULD BE GREEN like the first and only time I rode it).

I had not heard that about erasing you out of the system if you are 15 minutes late.

I'd be happy to make you some shirts for your September trip - these were a lot of fun to do!

I'd not heard that about the 15 minutes, either.

That is so wierd about being forgotten but it sounds like you all had quite a bit of fun while abandoned. Makes for a good story anyway. I've never been to LeC and with it being 2 credits, if I'm on the dining plan, unlikely in the future but you never know.

Did you guys just wear the matching shirts for the photo op? I got confused for a minute thinking it was 2 different days worth of pictures.

It gave me a TR title at least!

OMGosh, I just looked back and you're right - it IS two days worth of pictures! All the regular, non-matching shirt pictures are from that day, but the Photopass pics are all from our other Epcot day. I don't know why I didn't notice that? I guess we didn't do any photopass pics that day. Hmmm.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Princess Trip, Part 3

I set a wake up call for 6:35 and then set the alarm clock for 6:40, just in case. I don’t know why, but I never trust wake-up calls. The call did come, but I’d awoken exactly 1 minute before, so I didn’t really need either. Or maybe the act of setting the wake-up call and alarm is what made me wake up at 6:34? I’m not sure, but this happens to me a lot!

We’d brought various snacky type items for breakfast in the room. No one wanted to waste any time at the food court, especially given that we wanted to make it to the parks as early as possible. We had coffee (I’d brought those little individual CoffeeMate flavored creamers because I can’t stand the fakey powdered stuff. I like the fakey liquid stuff), and I had a couple granola bars.

The four of us minus Linda, who’d decided to sleep in and meet us later, made it to the Magic Kingdom by about 8:10. I’ve yet to witness a rope drop at Magic Kingdom. We were so excited to see the castle and start our park day, but we had to make a quick stop at the City Hall for a first visit button for Lynn. A sweet kid who was still “earning his ears” helped us out. He gave Lynn an “I’m celebrating” button on which he wrote “first visit.” Then he decided that we also needed buttons to show that we were celebrating Lynn’s first visit. Okay, what the heck. As we walked back out onto the square, I looked down at one of the other girls’ buttons – it said “Lynn’s Birthday!” In fact, all of ours (except Lynn’s) said “Lynn’s Birthday!” From the time he’d written out her first visit button to the time he wrote our buttons, he’d forgotten what it was we were celebrating! I guess he was distracted by our beauty! Of course, we all busted up laughing. Her birthday was coming up, but it was weeks away and we’d had no intention of celebrating it on our trip!

We stopped on Main Street to get a pic with the castle in the background. The photopass photographer said he could do it if we were quick, as the trolley was heading our way. Then I threw her my camera and asked if she could take one with that as well. Holy Cow, that was close! We jumped out of the way just in time and hurried off, as the photographer wished Lynn happy birthday.

We decided to go to the right towards Tomorrowland – but not without getting a shot of Flat Marcy in front of the castle. I don’t know why I don’t have a pic of it, I guess we were just too excited, but we headed straight for Space Mountain – which had no wait whatsoever. What a great way to start off the day! My mom is not a huge coaster fan, so she took the opportunity to visit the little girls room and we met her in the dump shop. Oh, I just realized how that sounded.

Next, a spin with the World’s Most Famous Space Ranger was in order. Flat Marcy really wanted to meet him, as her little guy, 2 year old Brody, is a huge fan. He was kind enough to take a few moments away from saving the galaxy to pose with her. I love this ride so much, even after the introduction of Toy Story Midway Mania – I still think it holds its own. One problem this time around. I got in the ride vehicle first, which meant I would be shooting with my left hand and steering with my right. This proved to be extremely awkward! I did terrible, I won’t even report my score (actually I don’t remember what it was, but I do believe it was only in the 4 digits.)

We couldn’t leave Tomorrowland without an official tour on the Peoplemover. I miss the old spiel, but I do still really enjoy this ride. On our longer trips, it usually gets at least two or three visits each time we are at MK, but I knew that given our short time here, this might be it.

When we came in September, I took a picture of my mom on the Peoplemover (our very first ride of the trip) with her hands up like you’d do on a roller coaster. I’d posted it to Facebook, and Lynn had commented, “Put your hands down, Dee!” So we thought it would be funny to reprise this. Somehow Katie and I look more like were doing jazz hands.

Knowing that this was predicted to be a crowd level 8 day, and it was our only time at Magic Kingdom on this short trip, I did not suggest visiting the Carousel of Progress, even though it is one of my favorites. This was prime touring time in the early morning after all. No one was the slightest bit interested in Stitch, so it was time to move on.

We typically skip the Speedway. At least on our first day. Its just not on my list of must-do’s. But Lynn and Katie wanted to do it, so we sort of paused by the entrance to scan the queue and try to determine how long the line really was (I think it said 20 minutes, but it looked longer to me). This ride is just not at all worth the wait to me, so I was hoping they would come to the same conclusion and we could move on. As we hovered there momentarily, the CM approached us and struck up a conversation. He started by wishing Lynn a Happy Birthday when he saw our buttons. This made us all break up, and then we thought to ask if he would pose with our friend, Flat Marcy.

He said he thought she was kinda cute. Then he pulled us in to the queue area and told us to wait there. He came back with an enormous “Its My Birthday” placard and had Lynn hold it up so we could take a picture. We were all dying by this point, but then it got even better. He pulled her over in front of the track and told the entire queue that it was her birthday and he wanted us all to sing to her. Lynn was beet red and laughing so hard she had tears coming down. The entire queue sang the happy birthday song, and then he escorted us to the next cars. Lynn and my mom were in front of Kate and I, and they didn’t realize he’d stuck the birthday placard on the back of their car. Throughout the entire route, she was getting shouts of Happy Birthday from people we’d pass. It was a riot!

I’ve never had such fun on the Speedway, and I was so glad we’d paused there or we’d never experienced that spontaneous hilarity! After we exited, we continued on our journey towards Fantasyland, laughing the whole way.

 

[Poolrat]

That is soooo funny about the Birthday buttons that are not a birthday button.

Your pixie dust for that day was the button. I hope continued to get laughs from your group as you made your way through the park.

 

[PirateKate]

What a great story! And it probably wouldn't have happened without the wrong message on the pins.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OMG, what fun! Those random things that CM's do at Disney are just what make it so magical! Never heard of a CM with a sign that size! Looks like you girls had so much fun!!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Update !!! Toooo funny about the Not Birthday!!!

 

[klacey1]

LOL what a funny morning!! From the newbie CM to the speedway-- you guys must have been laughing the entire morning. Love the jazz hands, too!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

That is soooo funny about the Birthday buttons that are not a birthday button.

Your pixie dust for that day was the button. I hope continued to get laughs from your group as you made your way through the park.

Lots of pixie dust, that's for sure!

What a great story! And it probably wouldn't have happened without the wrong message on the pins.

We couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried!

OMG, what fun! Those random things that CM's do at Disney are just what make it so magical! Never heard of a CM with a sign that size! Looks like you girls had so much fun!!

Lynn was SO embarrassed! We had a blast!

Great Update !!! Toooo funny about the Not Birthday!!!

Yes, it was a very merry un-birthday!

LOL what a funny morning!! From the newbie CM to the speedway-- you guys must have been laughing the entire morning. Love the jazz hands, too!

I don't think we stopped laughing the entire trip!